Saturday, January 2, 2016

Leading Lady @ Winnie and Walter--Take One!

Hello friends! I am thrilled to share my guest designer post with you today. Back in the early summer 2015, I got the invite to be the January Leading Lady over Winnie & Walter, I had to say YES! I love their products and Shay (the owner/designer) is super awesome to work with. Well, the day is finally here! Shay is offering my blog followers a $30 Winnie & Walter gift cardas giveaway (see details at the end of this post).

warning: this is a text and photo-heavy post

For the
January Leading Lady feature, I would like to try something NEW! I love
card-making and scrapbooking. However, I am always intrigued by art journals.
With the versatile designs from Winnie & Walter, this provides me with the
perfect chance to dive in! Why art journals, you ask?

These
are a few things I think might make you consider giving art journaling a
try!

~Make it
YOUR own: There is no rule as to how you want to keep your art journal. After
all, it’s YOURS! You can use store-bought art journals or simply make your own
pages with heavy card stock.

~Try
new techniques/supplies/sketches: you can experiment with new things in your art
journal. Jot down your ideas and run with it! NO judgement.

~It’s therapeutic: working at your own pace is also what makes it fun and
relaxing. You can spend as little or as much time as you want in one sitting.
Your page is as elaborate/simple as you want it to be.

~Use your old and new supplies: the blank pages are your canvas and
playground. You can try any supplies that you have or try using new stuff!

~Get inspirational: your art journal serves as a great source of
inspiration. Perhaps this will help you come up with something new and
amazing!

~It’s FUN!

Here is my creative process:

I got a good deal on the Faber Castell Art Journal and it is a perfect one for
beginners like me. This album allows me to take out the pages one at a time.
The only supply that you might consider getting is Gesso. It is like a paint
primer for paper. Gesso mixes well with Gelatos, Watercolors and Distress
Inks/Markers. As you can see, you can emboss, apply stencils and stencil paste,
glue paper...in an art journal. Let’s see what I came up with!

The cover of my art journal:

1. Use Gesso to prepare the surface. I applied a layer of Gesso with a
paint brush. I then used my fingers to make sure the Gesso is evenly applied.

2. After the Gesso was dried, I started to add details. In this case, I
stamped some text background with the set Happiest
of Holidays.

3. I used Canson watercolor paper and made a die cut with The
Leaf Effect Cutaway. By using various Distress Inks with water, the cover
was quick and easy to create.

4. A bird house was stamped (from Happiest
of Holidays ) and a scalloped die piece ( Goldie
Trim Cutaways) were added to complete the design.

This first page may appear to be flat, but it has some interesting depth
and dimensions.

I hope to share more of my art journal in my next few posts. You can always
apply the ideas and inspiration to any of your projects.

Lastly, I want to finish my first Leading Lady post with a card “Happy
Everything”.

This card is nearly one layer. I started by stamping the flower image and
leaves. I then used the backside (yes, flip them over and
stamp!) of the flower stamps to add assorted colors. This can be achieved with a
stamp positioner such as MISTI or Fiskars Stamping Press.

The sentiment was
stamped with The
Big, The Bold and The Happy. I die cut a piece of foil paper with Goldie
Trim Cutaways and layered it with a piece of color card stock.

72 comments:

Beautiful projects, Virginia!! I love the art journal idea and you've inspired me to get started on the one I picked up on clearance sometime last year. I love the foil trim you added to your card - it adds such an awesome effect. Thank you for the chance to enter your giveaway - I've been a longtime follower of your blog via Feedly.

I had never considered the idea of keeping an art journal until I read your post on the w&w blog. Looking forward to see what else you have in store for us this month. Also love your card. I've been intending to use the backs of my stamps for adding colour to outlined images for quite a whilw now, but it's still on my to do list. These flower stamps (which arrived a few days before Christmas with my other Black Friday sale goodies) seem like a good starting point...

Just to let you know the link from WW isn't going to this post, perhaps the times are not in sync? I loved seeing your thoughts on journaling. I adore your 'Happy Everything' card, love the design of this one. Congrats on being the Leading Lady and a very Happy New Year x

Hot dawg! Leading Lady, huh? Many congrats. You really started out with a bang, too. The first pages are fantastic...so many techniques. I admire your courage in doing this. I've thought about it, but never seem to get around to it. Can't wait for the next installment. Wahoo!

Congratulations "Leading Lady" VIRGINIA......your project is very interesting and a wonderful hint for trying new things. Your card is so lovely. I have stamped using the back of stamps....a good way to extend supplies.

CONGRATS on the honor of becoming Leading Lady for January, Virginia! Over the past several months, I have become a huge fan of W&W, so I'm thrilled that you'll be posting there during the next few weeks!Your Art Journal cover is just beautiful! I love the effect of the Gesso, and how you layered your Cutaway! I also love how you played with your embossing paste on your first page...WOW! Fabulous stamping, and your 'Home' Cutaway looks amazing stacked with 2 shades of aqua! The flowers and leaves on your card are stunning, too! What a fun way to include the Goldie Trim Cutaway...complete with a border! Awesome projects, my friend! I can't wait to see more ;)

What a great idea to try something new in beginning an art journal, Virginia. Something I've wanted to try for years. I've always admired the Winnie and Walter stamps, they are high on my wish list. I'm looking forward to seeing what else you do in your journal after such a lovely start!

Congratulations on being W&W's Leading Lady, Virginia ... and on such an awesome debut post! What an amazing art journal and lovely card ... creative, innovative, colourful ... and fabulous! Looking forward to seeing more of the sneak peek next week! Hugs, Anita :)

First of all, congrats on the Leading Lady gig for W&W! What a fun and colourful art journal you have produced! I love the card too! Unfortunately for me MORE yummylicious goodies have just made their way onto my "never ever gonna end" wish list!!! lol!! It would be so awesome winning this giveaway so I could get some of those off said wish list! Thanks for the chance!

I have been wondering for the past year if I could create my own journal with the supplies that I already own. Thank you so much Virginia for sharing this with us as I now know what I want to recreate next. We don't get art/craft/papercraft/ stamping supplies as quickly as you get in the USA and they are more money too but I know I have most of the supplies to try this myself Karen xx

Yay, Virginia, I was so excited when I saw you were going to be Leading Lady for January!!! You will totally bring it, sistah!! And you've already started. Great idea to explore art journaling, as I'm sure you have a lifetime supply of cards with all of your creations : )Love what you shared this week, and I can't wait to see what's next!!

Virginia, I'm ever so far behind in commenting on your W&W posts, but I'm catching up right. this. minute! Your art journal is absolutely amazing! I've never done one but you're certainly provided sparks of incentive to do so! Thank you for the inspiration and, especially, the tutorials! Love having 'starting point' ideas!~carol

You are the perfect leading lady, Virginia! Always willing to give new ideas and techniques a try. I must say your art journal is just beautiful and very uniquely yours. Your card is also gorgeous, as usual.